Does concealed carry have a domestic violence loophole? Domestic violence and concealed carry

Mere arrest doesn't automatically disqualify someone from having a gun in public. Some advocates think it should.

March 02, 2014|By Dahleen Glanton, Tribune reporter

A sample of the state's new a concealed carry license. (Antonio Perez, Chicago Tribune)

Domestic violence has long been a controversial issue in the national debate over gun rights. But until Illinois was forced by the courts to make sweeping changes in its gun laws, the state never had to grapple with this question: Should people with a history of domestic violence be allowed to carry guns in public?

Though lawmakers took an additional step to weed out convicted batterers in a concealed carry law passed by the General Assembly last year, some critics have said it leaves a loophole that could allow some violent abusers to slip under the radar.

Under the law, a person can be arrested for any offense, including domestic battery, up to five times within a seven-year period before being denied a permit to carry a firearm in public.

Those who work with domestic violence victims said that by the time someone has had multiple arrests, it may be too late. They fear that women will be placed in grave danger because domestic violence often goes unreported. When there is an arrest, charges often are dropped because the victim chooses not to pursue the case, they said.

"What the research shows is that when there are firearms in the home of a domestic violence relationship, the potential for homicide increases by 500 percent," said Dawn Dalton, executive director of the Chicago Metropolitan Battered Women's Network, citing a 2003 study published in the American Journal of Public Health. "Why would we want people who are choosing to break the law to have a firearm?"

Some gun rights advocates argue that an abuser who wants to kill would do it whether a gun is accessible or not. They also note that an arrest is different from a conviction for a reason: Sometimes people who are arrested for crimes are not guilty of them.

At the dawn of a new era in gun rights, Illinois is bracing for a change in culture where people will able to legally move about with a firearm tucked in a holster or purse. With the first 5,000 licenses expected to land in mailboxes this week, there have been renewed concerns about whether the application process sufficiently weeds out domestic abusers.

"Our hope is to have individuals who have concealed carry permits be law-abiding citizens, and the vast majority of them are," said Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, one of the most vocal critics of the law. "The public unfortunately has the misperception that this bill was done well and allows for a lot of scrutiny. But there's no way we're not going to be missing people."

Though federal law prohibits convicted abusers from obtaining firearms, Illinois is one of 14 states to take the additional step of denying licenses to those who have been convicted of misdemeanor domestic battery or are under an order of protection.

The state law, however, only applies to convictions for battery, assault, aggravated assault or violating an order of protection within the last five years — not arrests that don't lead to conviction. And once an order of protection expires, the law allows the firearms ban to be lifted.

Dart said the law should deny a license to those who have even a single arrest for domestic violence.

Law enforcement officials are allowed to review applications and object to applicants they feel should be disqualified. Applications that are flagged are reviewed by a state advisory board, which can further investigate the cases before making a final decision. Because of state confidentiality requirements, details about specific cases will not be made public.

The Lake County Sheriff's Department opposed 41 of its 369 applications, half of them for domestic issues, officials said. The Chicago Police Department reviewed 3,186 applications and objected to 86, according to spokesman Adam Collins.

And as of last week, Dart had objected to 430 of the 14,000 applications from Cook County. He said he opposed 167 of them because of domestic violence and 50 because of orders of protection.

In one case, a man is alleged to have quarreled with the victim, twisted her wrist and threatened to kill her. She managed to free herself and called police. Later, she decided not to cooperate and the case was stricken with leave to reinstate, but was never dismissed, according to the sheriff's office.

In this case, the man was able to get a FOID card and also had been approved by the Illinois State Police to teach the 16-hour firearms training course required by the state to receive a concealed carry license, according to Dart. His office challenged 13 other firearms instructors' applications.

State police revoked the FOID cards of some certified firearms instructors because of their conduct, and removed them from the instructors list, said spokeswoman Monique Bond. She would not say whether any of them were among applicants flagged by Dart.

On Friday, state police said that of the 50,000 applications received since January, 300 were denied permits. An additional 800 that were rejected by law enforcement are awaiting review.